Saddle Up and Prepare to Ride with the Bluray of CITY SLICKERS

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray from SHOUT! SELECT and director Rob Underwood is a classic

buddy comedy that is riding back into our homes with CITY SLICKERS.

Mitch (Billy Crystal) is having another birthday but this one seems to be hitting him a little harder that the last. Now 39, Mitch is finding his life a bit tedious at best and his wife Barbra (Patricia Wettig) notices. That’s when she suggests that he ‘go find himself’ which is exactly what he does.

He talks best friends Ed (Bruno Kirby) and Phil (Daniel Stern) into joining him in the fresh air and cow pie sky for a little rid in the saddle. They join up with others to herd cattle in New Mexico to Colorado and meet their leader Curly (Jack Palance).

Curly isn’t exactly your friendly type but that doesn’t stop Mitch from trying to learn a little more about him. There is also Barry (Josh Mostel) and Ira (David Paymer) Shalowitz, Bonnie (Helen Slater) along with doctors’ Ben (Bill Henderson) and Steve Jessup (Phill Lewis). They begin to work as a team and Mitch even delivers a cow who takes to his new Mitch-Mom and is named Norman.

All the warm fuzzies cool off in the night desert air when the cook gets drunk, food goes wrong and Curly leaves without a word. That leaves trouble makers Jeff (Kyle Secor) and T.R. (Dean Hallo) who themselves get drunk and threats are thrown like punches. The rest of the group believes the fun is over and decide to head back.

That is except Mitch who wants to get the cattle to Clay Stone’s (Noble Willingham) ranch as promised – along with Ed and Phil they beat the elements doing what could have been seen as the impossible.

Find themselves!

Crystal as Mitch embraces this character or maybe its just that I love him in this character. As a man who isn’t happy with his life and thinks an adventure might just be what he needs to get the pep back in his step. Crystal spent a greater part of the 80’s making such films about changes in life and what truly makes us happy. With CITY SLICKERS he takes it a step further and literally looks farther than even I would have to discover happiness is closer than you think.

Kirby as Ed is that friend who isn’t afraid of much but yet secretly afraid of allot. Keeping his life closed off to his two best buddies, it takes a night by the fire and herding cattle to come clean about the status of his own happiness – and the truth about it all.

Stern as Phil is the friend who is hiding behind life to get through life. Realizing he has spent a great deal of his life being a ‘yes man’ to keep everyone happy – including his own wife, has cost him years of happiness. Stern is awkward but does it so that I can’t help but want to save him. Slater as Bonnie comes in with a broken heart and an eye for Phil as well as proving to herself that she is just as tough a cowboy as the rest.

Palance as Curly is the clear winner in all of this. He doesn’t outshine his cast mates but his presence is such that even this quiet role screams awesomeness. I have been watching him in films for longer than I want to admit and I have to say that as Curly – he stole my film loving heart.

Other cast include: Tracey Watter as Cookie, Jeffrey Tambor as Lou, Karla Tamburrelli as Arlene, Yeardley Smith as Nancy, and Walker Brandt as Kim Furillo.

SHOUT! Factory has grown into a tremendous multi-platform media company. Releasing new animated features such as the exquisite Long Way North, and the epic fantasy Beauty And The Beast. Also their own original horror film, Fender Bender gives fans a good scare. For more of what SHOUT Factor has to offer please visit www.shoutfactory.com.

The Bluray also includes the Special Features of Audio Commentary by director Ron Underwood and Stars Billy Crystal and Daniel Stern, Back in the Saddle: CITY SLICKERS Revisited, Bringing in the Script: Writing CITY SLICKERS, A Star is Born: An Ode to Norman, The Real City Slickers and Deleted Scenes you won’t want to miss!

Designed with the film lover in mind, SHOUT SELECT shines a light on films that deserve a spot on your shelf. From acknowledged classics to cult favorites to unheralded gems, SHOUT SELECT celebrates the best in filmmaking, giving these movies the love and attention they deserve.

CITY SLICKERS is a buddy film that is full of everything we love this type of genre for. There are life crisis that we can all relate to, friends that will do everything with you even if they are a little bit scared of life, good times to be had even in a saddle and becoming the parent of an animal as lovely as Norman – perhaps not quite as big though.

This is a fun family film that brings out just about every human emotion and I’m more than okay with that. Laughs, a tear or two, surprise and finding yourself becoming a cheering section is pretty much every cool thing about CITY SLICKERS.

So, gather up your own herd of friends and family and revisit a trail ride that is still as much fun today as it was when released in theatres in 1991!

In the end – yesterday they were businessmen, today they’re cowboys and tomorrow they’ll be walking funny!

HOME ALONE 2 Lost in New York Arrives for the Holidays to Celebrate the 25th Anniversary on Bluray

Jeri Jacquin

This week on Bluray from writer John Hughes, director Chris Columbus and 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment is a signal that the holidays are upon us with HOME ALONE 2 Lost in New York.

Once again the Christmas season is here and there is a mad dash to the airport for the McCallisters. Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) becomes confused and separated from his family. Taking the plane he thinks his family is on, Kevin ends up in the Big Apple!

Checking into a swanky hotel, Kevin takes advantage of life in the big city and a twitchy hotel manager Mr. Hector (Tim Curry) to live it up a little. He meets the Pigeon Lady (Brenda Fricker) in the park and after hearing her story knows things must change. He also is drawn to a toy store owned by E.F. Duncan (Eddie Bracken) that is magical for many.

He also sees Harry (Joe Pesci) & Marv (Daniel Stern), the burglars who made his life difficult back home and learns what they have planned – and it isn’t good. When Harry and Marv see Kevin – their lust for revenge brings them right into the hands of a master kid who knows how to set traps!

In the meantime mom Kate (Catherine O’Hara) and dad Peter (John Heard) realize they have once again lost their son and will do what they have to when it comes to having the family together for the holidays.

It is another McCallister Christmas to remember!

Culkin as Kevin is now and forever the kid who brought a twist to Christmas and also brought this series of films into everyone’s holiday. Now that the film is on Bluray, it means that family’s can actually plan a movie night that includes the antics of Kevin and the gang. In this film Culkin is still that kid who has a twinkle in his eye and really isn’t afraid of much once he gets it in his head that no one is going to ruin another holiday!

Pesci as Harry is hilarious, continually and amazingly hilarious. Of course Pesci can play a bad guy with the best of them as he has proven over and over again. When it comes to comedy, Pesci is equally as talented and no one can say differently. Stern as Marv is the guy who follows along with everything – even when it knows it might not end well. I love Stern in this role because he has such a childlike quality and yes, he sure can do a pratfall like no one else!

Fricker as the Pigeon Lady is lovely, endearing, sweet and reminds me of the bird-lady in Mary Poppins. I don’t mind that at all because she gives Kevin focus on the true meaning of love and friendship – even with bird droppings on her shoulder. Bracken as E.F. Duncan is a man who still has a heart for the holidays and an even bigger heart for knowing what his city needs.

O’Hara as Kate is a mother on a mission as she once again navigates the terror that is getting home. Heard as Peter seems less stressed but then again Kate has enough for everyone.

It must be said that seeing Tim Curry in the role of the Concierge is nothing short of fantastic. His facial expressions are perfection and every scene he is in I savor. Yes, a Curry fan most definitely and in this film he deserves a shout out!

Other cast include Devin Ratray as Buzz, Hillary Wolf as Megan, Maureen Shay as Linnie, Michael Maronna as Jeff, Gerry Bamman as Uncle Frank, and Terrie Snell as Aunt Leslie. The film also hosts Rob Schneider as the Bellman, Bob Eubanks as the Ding-Dang-Dong Host, Rip Taylor, Jaye P. Morgan, Jimmie Walker, and Ally Sheedy. 

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment brings award-winning global product and new entertainment to DVD, Bluray, and Digital HD. There amazing collection offers fans an opportunity to expand their own home libraries with the best films. To discover what other titles they have please visit www.fox.com.

HOME ALONE 2 Lost in New York is such an amazing family film filled with humor, family, life, love and all the insanity that goes with that (even if you have to nutty burglars chasing you around). My own kids watched all of the Home Alone films over and over never tiring of the antics and now they are sharing their memories to a new generation.

So when out doing early holiday shopping (admit it – you are doing it!) pick up a copy for your own home entertainment library and let Kevin, Harry and Marv along with the entire McCallister family help you celebrate with HOME ALONE 2 Lost in New York.

In the end – he is up past his bedtime in a city that never sleeps!